In the medical clinic, laboratory examination of fecal samples is an important component of some diagnoses. In these cases, stool specimens are taken from a patient and examined for conditions relative to the ailment of the patient. As specific examples, physicians and clinicians often test stool samples as a component of testing for colon or rectal cancer or to identify bacteria or viruses that may be involved in an infection. Additionally, some diagnostics require isolating and assaying nucleic acids, proteins, fats, or other analytes present in a stool sample. Consequently, acquiring a specimen for testing (e.g., a stool specimen) is the first step in sample processing for many tests (e.g., the medical diagnostic analysis of feces). For samples collected by the patient, e.g., in their home, a container holding the collected sample must be suitable not only for storage of the sample until it is received in the lab, but also for transport and/or shipping of the sample to the lab where it will be examined.
Acquiring the stool specimen presents several challenges relating to, e.g., providing containers of sufficient size to receive and contain an entire sample, wherein the container is configured for handling and use by patients with different sizes of hands (e.g., small to large) and with varying degrees of hand strength, upper body strength, and/or fine motor skill and visual acuity. Patients over the age of about 50 years are particularly likely to be subject to screening methods requiring collection of stool specimens, and are also more likely have impairments in both hand usage (e.g., due to arthritis) and vision (e.g., age-related presbyopia, cataracts, macular degeneration). The likelihood of such impairments increases in older populations, e.g., in populations of geriatric patients.
Ergonomic sample containers are configured to allow for the comfortable acquisition of a stool specimen, are easy to use for the subjects providing stool specimens, and include features ensuring proper sealing, e.g., to prevent leakage during handling or shipping. However, transfer of samples prior to processing may increase risks of sample contamination. Thus, it is desirable to process samples directly in the containers used for collection.